


Times He Was There and Times He Wasn't

by InSpaceYoghurt



Series: Accounts According to Daisy [2]
Category: Broadchurch
Genre: Divorce, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Mother-Daughter Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:55:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24721186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InSpaceYoghurt/pseuds/InSpaceYoghurt
Summary: How Daisy's relationship with her mum and dad progressed.
Relationships: Alec Hardy & Daisy Hardy, Alec Hardy & Tess Henchard, Daisy Hardy & Tess Henchard
Series: Accounts According to Daisy [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1728577
Comments: 6
Kudos: 34





	Times He Was There and Times He Wasn't

**Author's Note:**

> Edit: Almost nine months later I just realised that this story line doesn't match up with what I wrote in the last part- oops. As of now, the mistake has not been fixed so please bear with me.   
> You don't need to have to read the first part of this series to read this. If you read Checkin' In with Your Voicemail, then this is going to be a very similar/familiar read. This starts when Daisy is really young and works its way up. This one, however, focuses less on how Daisy finds out who lost the pendant and more on what happens in that gap of time between Season 2 and 3 when he is trying to fix things between his family before returning to Broadchurch.  
> Hopefully this isn't too boring. There's not a lot of dialogue in this - which... haha - isn't something I'm used to doing - so I hope it's not too dry.  
> Happy reading.

Daisy loved her father; loved being the operative word.

  
  


She loved him when she was little – no - she adored him when she was little. For a long time of her life, it was just her and her dad. Nothing could come between them.

She used to dance in the yard with him in the cool autumn air, watching as the different coloured leaves fell to the ground. She used to have a stomping contest with him to see whose leaves could make the loudest crunch when they stepped on them. They’d have all sorts of races and contests that were held in the backyard. She won every time.

Daisy could remember one time on Father’s day she got to take him to school and show him all the things they had been working on. It was her first year of school. That was one of the best days she had. She got to show him off to the class and where he worked. She, by far, had the coolest dad. No one else had fathers who got to chase bad guys and solve mysteries. That evening he took her out for ice cream.

It didn’t take her long to realise he’d do anything for her. From becoming a personal music stand on the go or helping her finish science projects. He used to read to her before bed, even when she could very well read on her own, putting on silly voices every time the character changed.

He never let her down. At least, not for the longest time.

The first time she was let down was during a band concert. Her very first band concert. She’d found her family’s smiling faces when she walked on stage. They were sitting in the very front row (they’d insisted on leaving as early as possible so they could get the best seats). Her dad smiled, giving her a thumbs up. She remembered him going on and on about how Daisy had gotten a solo, explaining it to almost everyone they talked to with the proudest face she’d ever seen. She didn’t even think she could be as proud of herself as he was.

Daisy had watched the lights dim and the conductor hold his hands up, ready to begin the concert. By the time she’d gotten to her solo, her jitters had gone away. Her hands were on autopilot and the notes came out smooth and clean. When the song was over there was thunderous applause. Daisy had never felt happier. She couldn’t wait to see her dad’s reaction. But when she looked for him, he wasn’t there. Instead, her mother and grandparents stood with smiling faces, applauded, and a silent empty seat folded up in the place of her father.

She didn’t see him until later that evening. Really late. Daisy was half dozing off when the front door opened. She asked him why he wasn’t there and he told her he was on call out. He had to leave because his boss said he had to. Daisy understood. Daisy waited for him to tell her it would never happen again – but he didn’t. He never made a promise he couldn’t keep.

The next time he let her down was when she was in year seven. Actually, it was almost the end of year seven. She had asked if her dad would be free that evening to help her study for the final exams. He agreed. She always loved it when he helped her study. He’d even sometimes learn the content beforehand or read the textbooks so he could better understand how to help her.

He always showed her tips and tricks to memorising the content and would sit with her for hours upon hours until Daisy felt comfortable with the content.

That evening, however, she watched her mother step through the doorway and not her father. She asked when her dad might be home. Her mother shook her head and said to not wait on him. He was going to be late.

Daisy, however, waited.

  
  


  
  


And waited.

  
  


  
  


And waited.

  
  


By nine, she decided it was no good. She was going to study on her own. Hours later, her mum brought her some warm tea and biscuits seeing she was still up so late. She offered to help her study. Daisy agreed. Studying with her mum was nothing like studying with her dad. That evening was slow. None of the content seemed to click with her. Not to mention her mum remembered very little from when she took physics.

It was almost one in the morning when Daisy’s dad got home. She was still working with her mum. He explained that a new case popped up. He looked exhausted but still offered to help finish up the study session. Daisy had shaken her head and told him she was going to bed anyway. She needed her sleep for the next day.

Years after that, she felt like all she did was wait on her dad. He was always late or tired. She learned to manage by herself. The first boyfriend she had nearly given both her parents a heart attack. Her dad warned that this was not the kind of person she should be hanging around, but she told him it wasn’t his choice who she dated. When she broke-up with him, her dad gave her a hug and told her it would be alright. Her mother shooed him away and instead it was Daisy and her mother. They watched a movie together and stuffed their faces with popcorn.

Days after that, Daisy asked if her dad was free to watch a movie with her. When he didn’t answer, she found him sitting in the living room surrounded by files and paperwork. He’d brought work home. He asked what she needed, but Daisy just shook her head and told him to forget it. He wouldn’t have the time. He never did.

Then, when everything just started become normal again, he decided to go and take the stupid Gillespie case, which didn’t help anything at all. Everything fell apart after that.

She didn’t love him anymore after he left. She didn’t want him in her life. She never answered her phone when he tried calling and she never spoke to him when her mother was on the phone with him. He destroyed the life that she had and she would never get it back.

So when she found out that it wasn’t him who cheated on her mum all those years back, that he wasn’t the one who’d lost the pendant, she lashed out on her mum. She only felt angry. She was angry that she wasn’t told sooner and she was angry that her mum would ever do something like that to her dad.

Yet, she never called her dad back. She listened to a few of the messages he’d left – they broke her heart – but she never called him back.

Instead, she waited for him to return home after he had closed the Gillespie case. After he arrested the people who murdered Pippa. The people who caused so much trouble for Daisy’s family.

When her dad first arrived home, she didn’t say anything about the case. She didn’t tell him that she had found out the truth. She just wrapped her arms around him and squeezed tightly. For a second, he was reluctant to hug back, but when Daisy didn’t let go, he wrapped his long arms around Daisy and said, “I missed you so much, Daisy.”

Daisy was elated that he was back. He asked about all of the things she had been doing and all of the things she had learnt while he was away. She told him that she was enrolled in all of the Advanced Placement classes, including in her band class. She had earned first chair and had a solo piece she would be performing in a few weeks. She showed off her new clarinet and played an excerpt from the solo.

And as happy as she was that her dad was back, her mum didn’t seem too fond. The evening he came back they went out for dinner. She joked around with him, but everything still felt a bit tense. Her dad suggested going to get ice cream from one of the vendors he and Daisy used to visit. Her mum rejected the idea. Daisy was surprised by this. She knew her dad was probably trying to make amends for something he was at no fault of doing, but was surprised her mum wasn’t trying to make things better.

Daisy had been livid with her mum after finding out how the pendant was lost during their case. For a week she stayed silent and refused to talk to her mum. Her mum made several attempts to make things right, but Daisy always dismissed her. What was strange to her was that her mum stopped trying after a couple times. She didn’t try to make things right – she just accepted things were the way they were.

Daisy knew that she shouldn’t make comparisons between her parents, but it was strange because her father had been trying to make things right for two and a half years. Her mum gave up in two and a half weeks.

Her mum had sent him off later that evening to whatever local inn he was staying at. There were no arguments that evening, but there were later on.

Daisy could hear small arguments spark up when her dad would visit. Small things about work (he’d just transferred back to Sandbrook PD and had come up with some minor inconveniences already) or about the way he was living.

Her dad would just frown and sigh, staying silent while Daisy was in the room, but he would snap back whenever Daisy was thought to be off in her room studying, even though she was listening to everything they were saying.

The year didn’t get better. Things between her parents got worse. Her dad tried fixing things between him and her mother, but it didn’t work out. Things between her own school life got worse; classes were much more difficult and the friends she used to have were starting to turn away.

Daisy did everything she could to fit in at school. She watched YouTube tutorials on how to put her hair up and how to apply makeup and convinced her mum to take her shopping (her mum owed her favours). And, for a while, she was making new friends.

All the way until she had attended that stupid Friday night party. She should have known better – but she wanted to fit in. She did everything her friends told her to do. She drank the spiked punch and danced with boys she barely knew. She didn’t know she’d crossed the line until it was too late. She was completely wasted and completely delirious. She didn’t know the loathsome boys in the corner was filming everything.

If she did, maybe she wouldn’t have done some of the things she’d done at the party. Later, the next week, she was suspended from school for the possession of drugs and alcohol on campus. She’d been blackmailed to hold on to a small tote bag by one of her friends. If she didn’t, they’d send the video of the Friday evening party to the whole school.

Her mother was furious. Her father was disappointed and gave her a long lecture. When she went back to school she was only stared at and stood out more than before. She hated it.

When she learned her father was moving back to Broadchurch, he offered for her to join him. Her mother was reluctant at first, but ultimately decided it was up to Daisy. She would get a new start and another chance not only at school, but with her dad.

She agreed and hoped she wouldn’t mess up again.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
